Information for Veterinarians

Accredited veterinarians are responsible for administering federal Animal Disease Traceability rules for animals under their care that are involved in regulatory programs or movements. This includes the application ofofficial ID when vaccinating animals for brucellosis, drawing blood for brucellosis testing and field testing for tuberculosis. In addition, at least one form of official ID must be listed on all state and federal regulatory forms for each animal vaccinated or tested.

Animal names, management tags, brands and breed registry tattoos are not considered official ID in Virginia and many other states for cattle. These types of identification may be included on regulatory forms, but are not a substitute for the proper use of official ID.

Official identification should also be used on Certificates of Veterinary Inspection (CVI) for all sexually-intact cattle, all rodeo or show cattle and all dairy cattle moving interstate – unless they are moving directly to an official, state authorized tagging site or slaughter facility. In addition, veterinarians responsible for shipping animals interstate are advised to check the animal entry requirements in destination states for specific entry requirements.

Official ID tags that use RFID technology allow animal records to be collected quickly and accurately when needed for regulatory programs and documents. 840-series RFID tags are available at no cost from the Office of Veterinary Services for use in all regulatory programs. In addition, spreadsheet-based templates and PDF forms are available that can be used to submit vaccination and test records. Staff with the Office of Veterinary Services are available to assist accredited veterinarians with e-business technologies and a number of hardware and software solutions are offered by various private vendors.